I was in the middle of the NAFTA battle in the early 90's. My Union which I now hate was warning that NAFTA would destroy American Manufacturing. it was a heated and fierce battle, our main target locally was Martin Frost who was in congress 26 years too long (1979 - 2005), long enough to help kill jobs of those working in American Manufacturing, first American workers to feel the hurt were men and women who worked in the textile industries on the east coast, followed by Steel Mill workers, the effect of NAFTA was swift as Americans lost good paying jobs to 3rd world countries and low paid workers. American Companies were forced offshore in order to compete, for some it was just greed..

​I suspect our politicians are living well from the kickbacks they got to vote in favor of NAFTA. Some are still in office today. Republican and Democrats who were supposedly friends of the working man pushed NAFTA through. to let the destruction begin.

​To make things worse for me, my Union UAW Local 848 campaigned for Martin Frost after he threw us under the bus by voting for NAFTA. I assume the auto workers unions did the same..Next year I ran for Union Chairman (got close) and learned first hand what crooked politics looks like, it hasn't changed.. Crooks All..

​I can't think of an industry who hasn't been effected including the aircraft business I worked in. It was always the promise of more work to come our way if we would just help train workers of this country or that country steal our jobs.. Our jobs were taken, no work came in return..

I promise you I've seen the work of foreign countries, you now are flying in inferior aircraft across our Nation everyday..

NOW COMES TPP:

Leaked documents from TPP negotiations reveals that the deal would even empower foreign corporations to skirt domestic courts and directly challenge our health, environmental and other public interest policies before extrajudicial foreign tribunals. Consequently our national democracies would be undermined.

The Canadian social activist Naomi Klein goes further and claims: ​“The Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP—has been called 'NAFTA on steroids.' It’s the latest and largest in a series of international agreements that have attacked working women and men.

Finally, a major criticism is that it is currently being negotiated behind closed doors by officials from the United States and 11 the other countries. The lack of transparency and accountability in these highly important negotiations makes very difficult for some stakeholders and experts to provide any input in the process.

Wasn't it Donald Trump that said we have people negotiating that do not know what they are doing? Nail on the head or Nail in the coffin either one works.

Steelworker President Leo Gerard said, “TPP may be the final blow to manufacturing in America. Our producers and workers are under siege from other nations’ massive overproduction, foreign currency devaluation, our own lack of long-term infrastructure investment and the strong dollar.”

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING;

1. Omitting currency rules from TPP will undermine all of its touted market-opening benefits. Currency manipulation has already caused thousands of U.S. factories to close and millions of workers to lose their jobs. A TPP without currency rules turns a mighty river of offshoring into a tsunami.

2. The inclusion of corporate courts (for investor-to-state dispute settlement) is a win for global business. Giant firms who use the U.S. as a flag of convenience but produce little here can now invest in Australia, Japan and Malaysia, then sue over laws and regulations they don’t like. They will be able to collect billions from taxpayers to compensate for lost profits.

3. It could hurt U.S. automakers. Japanese auto manufacturers are thrilled with the new rules because TPP will reduce U.S. tariffs on cars and trucks Japan sends to the U.S. Those cars may have a Japanese name on the outside, but everything that actually makes it a working car could be Chinese. I don’t know how U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman can look at any auto supply chain worker in the U.S. (or Canada or Mexico for that matter) and tell them with a straight face that TPP is a good deal.

4. It’s unclear whether the labor provisions will benefit workers. While there may be some small improvements to the labor chapter, we have first-hand experience that rules are worthless without enforcement. Until we see the actual text, we won’t know how much these promises live up to their hype.

Sadly, terrible trade deals have affected working people for the past four decades. Based on past performance, those who believe the same old promises will suffer, while those who wish to abuse and exploit workers with little pushback from governments will profit.